


Juleka Couffaine vs. the World

by snekwami



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/F, I'll add more characters when they get relevant, Mild season 2 spoilers, Scott Pilgrim AU, They're in their early 20s in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 14:51:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12484144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snekwami/pseuds/snekwami
Summary: Juleka must fight Rose's seven akumatized exes to win her heart, and sort out her trainwreck of a life in the meantime.





	Juleka Couffaine vs. the World

**Author's Note:**

> I've been meaning to write this for ages!! (Let's be real, I just want to write a Julerose fic.) BEWARE OF SEASON 2 SPOILERS.

Juleka Couffaine did not like parties. There were too many people around everywhere, all chatting and being social, afraid of nothing. How was it so easy for them to talk to each other? Juleka was never very good at talking to anyone, and she knew it. Rather than participating, trying to work her way into a record deal with some famous label like her fellow bandmates were doing, she stood in the corner with a drink and watched everyone through the strands of hair that fell over her face.

This was _terrifying_. Boring, too, with no one around that she was comfortable enough to talk to.

Why hadn’t she invited Mylène to just come here with her? It might be easier to manage with her friend by her side. Wait, no – girlfriend! She meant girlfriend.

Oh… who was she kidding? She didn’t love Mylène like that. The only reason Juleka had even asked her out in the first place was to distract her mind from the terrible breakup that She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had inflicted on her, however long ago that had been. And to be honest, Mylène probably knew it. The poor girl acted like a comforting friend, always there for her, always a supportive person to vent to. But nothing more. No magical lovey-dovey feelings, no kissing, nothing.

Was it selfish of her to keep stringing Mylène along like this? Maybe it would just be better to end things with her. There was practically nothing to end, anyway. And as terrifying as phone calls were, at least it would get Juleka away from the awkwardness of just standing here at this party, doing nothing but watching people. Wow… who would have thought the day would come where the prospect of _breaking up with someone_ was somehow less daunting than any other option?

Weaving her way through the crowds of mingling partygoers, she took her phone out of her pocket and headed for the door. If she was going to call Mylène up then it would be better to go somewhere quiet or she wouldn’t be able to hear a thing. It was too hot in here anyway. Or was that just because she felt nervous? Or maybe it was the fact that she was dressed head to foot in black, as usual? It was hard to tell sometimes.

She was already at the door when she noticed.

A hint of fragrance. Something floral, enchanting. Like a bouquet of flowers, mixed with a drop of sunlight.

It was only a whiff, but enough to stop her in her tracks. She took her hand off the door handle and turned around, trying to figure out where the scent came from.

Over there. The tiniest sliver of pink just about visible through the swarms of people. For a few seconds the crowds parted, and Juleka’s breath caught in her throat.

Was that… an _angel?_

It had only been a split-second. Juleka had already forgotten what she was doing. She pushed her way through the people, determined to catch a glimpse of that angel again, just to see, was that really an angel? Who was that?

There she was again. The source of that perfume. An angel with the biggest, brightest blue eyes, a sweet mop of blonde hair, an adorable pink minidress, and a dazzling smile that could light up the night sky itself. Just standing there with what looked like a mug of hot chocolate in hand, leaning against the wall slightly, her head bobbing up and down slightly to the beat of the music.

Closer now, the perfume was stronger. Juleka could not tell exactly what the scent was supposed to be, only that it was something so incredibly unique, so entrancing, so…

The angel’s eyes were beginning to sweep across the room. Juleka quickly turned aside, not wanting to be caught staring. She ducked behind a group of people nearby, hoping that would obscure her enough. She really couldn’t stand people looking at her. Why had she joined a band again?

“Oh hey, there you are Juleka!”

Wheeling around she saw her bandmate Kim heading towards her. Why did he always have to speak so loud?!

“Keep your voice down!” she snapped.

“Jeez, sorry. Anyway, guess what I just got sorted out? The Lucky Charms have officially been entered into the Battle of the Bands! Isn’t that rad?”

“Yeah, awesome.” Juleka took a quick look back at the angel, somewhere behind her, but stopped when she felt her heart speeding up. This was not good.

“Hey, are you okay? I know you don’t like parties and stuff but–”

“What do you know about that girl over there?” Juleka asked, tilting her head a little in the direction of the angel. “The one with the pink dress and the perfume.”

“What, Rose? She just moved here, apparently.”

“Rose…”

So that was the angel’s name. What a pretty name. It suited her, really. A beautiful flower for a beautiful girl.

“Why are you asking?” Kim said.

“Nothing!” Juleka replied hastily. “Nothing. Just… wanted to know.”

“And apparently she’s really nice,” Kim added. “So you’re allowed to go ask her stuff yourself rather than asking me, you know.”

Ugh, why did Kim just never _get it?_ Strangers were strangers, no matter how nice they were.

“She’s too pretty,” Juleka said, after a pause. “It’s… intimidating.”

“Um, don’t you like… have a girlfriend?”

“Not for long,” Juleka muttered, taking her phone back out of her pocket. “And for the record, I’m allowed to find anyone pretty whether I’m in a relationship or not.”

“Wait, are you seriously telling me you’re gonna break up with Mylène just because you saw some cute girl at a party?!”

“What? No!”

Juleka pushed Kim aside and headed for the door again. This had nothing to do with Rose, of course it didn’t. The fact that she saw Rose just before breaking up with Mylène was a coincidence. A somewhat unfortunate coincidence, but a coincidence all the same.

Outside it was so much cooler and quieter, every breath turning into visible dragon mist. Juleka scrolled down to Mylène’s number and took a deep breath. Her finger hovered above the call button.

Should she even do this? Well of course she should, she had made up her mind. But still… she hated phone calls. Hated them with a passion. Any time she heard the phone ring, she’d just freeze up, unable to answer. As for making calls, she tried to avoid that whenever possible. Poor Nathaniel was always having to pick up her slack when it came to booking dentist appointments or haircuts, and he didn’t much like phone calls either.

Mylène knew how much Juleka hated phone calls, right? Knew how anxious it made her. So maybe she wouldn’t mind if Juleka just… texted her instead. Yeah, maybe that would be better. Less likely to totally mess up that way. At least a message could be well thought-out, rather than an incoherent jumbled mess like a phone call would inevitably turn into.

Feeling somewhat more relieved now, Juleka typed up a message onto her phone. Still nerve-wracking, but far less this way. She only freaked out for about two minutes before managing to hit the send button.

And now to turn her phone off and ignore it for the rest of the evening. Mylène’s reaction could wait for tomorrow. Right?

Trying not to think about it too hard, she went back inside. Back into that lame, boring party. Why did parties always have to suck so much…

Oh.

That perfume again.

It was like a _magnet_. Juleka turned, almost involuntarily, to see Rose still standing there. She still had that precious smile on her face, still tapping her kitten-heel foot to the tune that was currently blasting through the speakers. And still looking absolutely breath-taking.

Before Juleka could even do anything, Rose’s big blue eyes shifted onto her. Those huge, beautiful, angelic eyes. It was like being under a spotlight from heaven.

And now Rose had lifted up one of those slender arms of hers, adorned in an array of colourful bangles, and was waving. Oh-so-gently. Like a royal, blessing her subjects.

For a few seconds Juleka simply could not move. The only thing she could focus on was Rose’s hand, the way it moved back and forth through the air, the rings on her dainty little fingers glinting in the light.

She shook herself out of it and, trying not to seem too flustered, gave a little wave back. Feeling stupid, she also put a little smile on her face. Smiling in public was not something she did often.

Now Rose stopped leaning against the wall. She lifted the mug to her lips and took a quick sip, leaving a thin line of chocolate milk over her coat of pale pink lip gloss, then began walking towards Juleka. Her movements were so smooth, gliding across the floor as if she were on ice. Those eyes were still fixed right on Juleka.

Uh-oh. There was nowhere to run now, was there? It was too late. Rose had come to a stop directly in front of her. She was about a head shorter, even with those small pink heels on.

“I LOVE your hair!”

Rose’s voice was somewhat unexpected. Juleka had thought perhaps it would be soft, smooth, regal. But no – it was bright and bubbly, high-pitched, somewhat reminiscent of a bird chirping. Something about it was just so… _endearing?_ Was that the right word? It was an unconventional kind of beauty, something Juleka had never expected to find attractive. But attractive it was.

Juleka ran a nervous hand through the purple streak that hung in front of her face. Rose liked it?

“Thanks,” she mumbled.

“No problem! It’s really very pretty. Your whole aesthetic is, actually.”

Could this really be happening? From the looks of it, Rose was rather a pastel princess. Cheerful, warm colours with a personality to match. Juleka was the polar opposite of that. Black, purple, more black, perhaps very dark grey on occasion – and quieter than a cemetery. Usually people like Rose wouldn’t exactly be charmed by someone so dreary.

Still, Juleka couldn’t just stand here staring. If Rose was being nice to her, she had to make an effort to be nice back, social anxiety be damned.

“You’re really pretty too,” she said quickly. Then she wanted to hit herself in the face – why had she said that?! That was too obvious! Rose hadn’t called her pretty, Rose had called her _aesthetic_ pretty! There was a difference! And now she probably just seemed like some desperate gay weirdo, jeez, why was she always like this?

Thankfully Rose didn’t seem to care. She giggled a little, her laugh sounding like wind chimes in the breeze. Then she held out that precious little hand of hers. The bangles on her wrist seemed to shimmer a little as they swayed from the movement. It was mesmerizing.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Rose Lavillant.”

_Rose Lavillant_ … that was her full name. It flowed so beautiful off the tongue.

Willing herself to stop trembling, Juleka took Rose’s hand and shook it. A shiver went through her as their hands touched – almost like a burst of static electricity. She let go quickly, feeling her palms becoming oddly sweaty.

“I’m Juleka Couffaine,” she said.

“That’s a really pretty name!”

“Oh, um… thank you…”

“Wait a second, are you one of the Lucky Charms? I was talking to Kim a bit earlier and he was telling me all about your band. It sounds so exciting!”

Kim had already told her about the band? Yikes, that was just a disaster waiting to happen. The Lucky Charms were absolutely terrible. Not only that, but their music style was… well, there was no way someone like Rose would be interested in it, surely.

“It’s fun,” Juleka said finally.

“I would love to hear you play!”

“We suck. A lot.”

Rose giggled again, sending Juleka’s brain into a meltdown. “I have a very open music taste, don’t worry! Anyway, I haven’t been here for that long and I was actually wondering if someone could show me around sometime. How about you?”

Was Rose really asking to hang out with her? They had only just met! But still… the thought of it sent a spike of adrenaline rushing through her blood, so fast she almost felt dizzy…

“Sure.”

“Nice! What’s your number? I’ll give you a call and we can totally hang out!”

Rose reached into the little handbag on her shoulder and pulled out a phone with a rather sparkly case. She handed it to Juleka, who quickly put in her number and then handed it back.

“Thanks! Here, I’ll send you a text, then you’ll have mine too.”

Rose typed something into her phone. Juleka took her own phone out of her pocket and cautiously turned it back on, making sure the volume was off. Sure enough, there were three missed calls from Mylène already and a flood of messages. Juleka ignored those and took a quick look at the message Rose had just sent her.

_Here’s my number! xxxxxxx_

Seven little kisses? That was so incredibly sweet. Usually things like that used to make Juleka gag, but for some reason when Rose did it, everything felt different.

“Got it,” Juleka said. “Thanks.”

“No problem. I look forward to hanging out with you soon!”

Rose’s final smile was so bright it could outdo the sun. She tucked her phone back into her bag, then gave Juleka one more little wave before turning around and heading towards the kitchen area, perhaps to put that hot chocolate of hers away. The trail of perfume became weaker and weaker the further away she got. Juleka just watched, feeling something burning in her chest.

Oh, drat… she had a crush, didn’t she?

 

 

* * *

 

 

“JULES!”

She snapped out of her daydream to see her bandmates glaring at her. Kim’s living room… oh yes, that was where she was. Not back at that party, like she had been thinking about.

“You only played one note for that entire song!” Kim said.

Song. Right. Band practice. Juleka looked down at the guitar in her arms.

“My hand slipped,” she mumbled.

“Don’t tell me you were fantasizing about that Rose girl again.”

“Of course not,” Juleka lied.

“Then what? Angsting over Mylène? You’ve talked to her since the other night, right?”

“Uh… y-yeah?”

Kim just sighed.

“Okay, I haven’t!” Juleka admitted. “But I will. I swear. I just… need time to prepare.”

“Well you’d better get yourself sorted out soon, or I’ll just get Ivan to play bass instead for the Battle of the Bands. Which starts in _two days_ , may I remind you?”

Juleka glanced towards the sofa to see Ivan sitting there, looking embarrassed at the thought of having to replace her. He gave her what seemed to be an attempt at an encouraging smile.

“I know, I know,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it. I’m not gonna be happy until we’ve _won_ that competition, okay?”

Obviously. Kim was obsessed with competitions, wasn’t he? It was so annoying.

“Yeah, fine. We’ll win.”

“Not with bandmates like you,” Alix piped up from somewhere behind them, tapping her drumsticks together absent-mindedly. “Juleka, don’t you have a _history_ of getting your personal life all mixed up with band stuff?”

“I’m not going to let it happen this time,” Juleka said firmly. “I’ll talk to Mylène, I swear. I’ll sort everything out. This isn’t going to be like that one time with…”

She trailed off, not daring to say the name of that one girl who had broken her heart. That was all in the past now. Thankfully no one else said the name either.

“And you’ll stop daydreaming about Rose when you’re meant to be focusing?” Kim asked.

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“Good. Let’s go again then, from the top.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“So you dumped Mylène,” Nath said, as soon as Juleka walked into the room. He was sitting in an armchair reading a magazine and hadn’t even bothered to look up.

“How do you know about that?” she snapped.

“Because Mylène has called here about seventeen times already, asking to speak to you, and I know perfectly well you’ve been avoiding her. Just like you avoid everything.”

Juleka sighed and threw her bag onto the floor before flopping onto the bed, knowing she was being rather dramatic but not entirely caring. “I can’t talk to her! She probably hates me now!”

“Are we talking about the same Mylène here? The really nice, sweet one who has never hated anyone in her life, ever?”

“Stop being sensible and let me be emo and stupid in peace. Please.”

Her eyes were closed but she could hear Nath standing up, walking over to her, felt him put a comforting hand on her arm.

“Juleka, I’m the emo and stupid one. You’re supposed to be the cool goth one. Please just talk to Mylène. It’ll put your mind at ease.”

Juleka just groaned.

“Alright then, don’t. But I’m telling your brother.”

“What?!” She sat up at top speed. “No no no no no no! Don’t tell Luka!”

“Too late,” Nath muttered, his phone out. “I’m telling him right now.”

“Nath – seriously – I’ll take away your phone–”

“I don’t have a phone,” he said, visibly texting.

Juleka put her head in her hands. “Oh man… well, at least as long as he doesn’t find out about Rose…”

“Ooh, who’s Rose?”

Dang it – that was the problem! She was so open around Nath that she could say anything and everything, and it was always coming back to bite her. Why did she have to bring up Rose? This was why she usually just never spoke, because then she wouldn’t get herself into situations like this…

“Lemme guess,” Nath continued. “This ‘Rose’ is the reason you broke up with Mylène.”

“Of course not! I was going to break up with Mylène anyway!”

“Uh-huh. Sure.”

“Seriously Nath, please, just… don’t tell Luka. Don’t.”

Nath finally put his phone down. “Ohhhh, alright. But only as long as you talk to Mylène TODAY. No putting it off any longer.”

“Fine. I’ll do it right now, if that makes you happy.”

Juleka turned her phone back on. She had been keeping it off most of the time, just in case. She was just about to call Mylène when–

“Hey, I have a message from Rose!”

_You wanna hang out? I’m free right now! <3_

That little heart…

“She sounds like a real cutie,” Nath said, reading the message over Juleka’s shoulder.

“Excuse me Nath, I have to go hang out with Rose,” she said, standing up.

“But weren’t you gonna call Mylène?”

“I’ll do it later!” She picked up her bag again and headed for the door.

“But–”

“Bye, Nath!”


End file.
